The Sudbury Star got a hold of the newest Panther, defenseman Josh McFadden, 21. Here’s some of his comments.

It’s been a good day today,” McFadden said by phone Tuesday. “I signed a contract, so I’m pretty happy and pretty excited.”
“Monday to Wednesday was more power skating and workouts, and Thursday and Friday was scrimmages and I had two good scrimmages,” McFadden said. “We had exit meetings Friday and I met with (Florida GM) Dale Talon and Brian McCabe, who is part of their development group, and they said they really liked how I played and they want me to be part of their organization and wanted me to sign a contract.
“It was like shock and excite-m ent and disbelief. I have never heard of a guy getting signed out of development camp, so I thought that was pretty cool.”
“It helped for sure already going to Montreal last year,” McFadden said. “Last year, I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect. Then, I get the chance to go to Florida and I already knew John McFarland there and it nice to know somebody and it made everything so much easier.
“The staff made me comfortable and they were approachable and they made it easy.”
“I am an offensive defenceman, so I wanted to show I can carry the puck and join the rush and make nice first pass out of the zone, and they liked that,” he said. “The first game I had two or three assists and it helped my confidence.
“I think it’s pretty clear I’m not going to make the NHL as a shutdown guy, so I had to show I can bring offence and be responsible in my zone as well.”
“My goal is to make the Florida Panther and that is my goal for the rest of the summer,” he said. “It will take lots of hard work and I need to work on my skating to play at the NHL level, so I’ll be doing some power skating so I show up at camp in as good a shape as I can.
“Playing in San Antonio (Florida’s AHL affiliate) is a good second choice, so I’m happy to play pro hockey next year, but I know I have to prepare properly. I was working with Waterloo at their camp, but now I’ll just train my butt off and try to crack the Florida lineup.”
“I didn’t think it would happen and I knew this was my last shot at pro hockey,” he said. “I wanted to make the most of the opportunity and I did that. The rest is up to me now.”
“I’d like to thank the coaches and everyone in Sudbury and the fans for supporting me,” he said. “All of them have been great to me and I only have good stuff to say about the Sudbury organization.”

HARVEY FIALKOV, a tennis-playing sportswriter who grew up in Long Island following the dynastic Islanders, is the new Panthers beat writer for the Sun Sentinel and looking forward to writing about the best professional sports team in Broward County.